Tag: community

It was a week of getting ready and cheering each other on.

The first wing was a preparatory group work, part and the end of last week.  Week after week, we learn how to climb the mountains of adventure, our adventure is to jump in order to look into the far future.

It was only possible to encourage each other and pay attention to the smallest details that changed the course of our work and our psychology, which is the most important thing.

The second wing was full of surprises that are getting to know and talking to local people in order to get more information which is really a way to deliver young people a youth house in their neighbourhood (Dorobantilor).

Talking to people and getting to discover more about Romania, is a wonderful thing for me personally. This was the best of every team I was in, with all humility!

The most surprising thing I found out is that my name is love in Romanian, which, by chance, was told to me by a former FITT volunteer (thank you, Eliza!).

In the 3^rd week of the project, we got our positive vibes volunteer, Yogesh Kumar, back. We started working as one team rather than splitting into four groups. As a solo team, every volunteer helped his or her colleague and tried each group’s task. In this way, we tried each kind of work without getting bored by one work. However, the work was more physical, but being energised by our committed and diligent coordinator, Alex Foale, it became more convenient.  

The tasks that we did this week are the following: 

• Fixing the roof
• Scratching the garden walls
• Making furniture for garden through pallets
• Painting windows
• Scratching and painting of some walls
• Community engagement

With persistent progress, we finished some works this week, like fixing the roof, scratching the garden walls and the walls of the rooms. The roof was renovated by removing extra still rocks and filling holes with cement. Moreover, in the garden we did the scratching of walls, clearing out the excess branches, and setting up the furniture made through pallets. Moreover, we finished the scratching of all room’s walls. These were the first achievements that we received after continuous hard work. Everyone was happy and we got the treat of some delicious ice creams from a school.  

In addition, as the walls were being scratched completely, we started painting on them. But before that, we cleaned profoundly all the rooms so that dust cannot spoil the paint. This painting part was so fun and exciting that made everybody dance. Also, this work was not that much hard as compare to others, as it was under shadow and not that much physical.  

Equally important, this week we did two community engagements with some new ideas to distribute the flyers and that resulted in the addition of three new local volunteers. They brought new energy to work and that boosted us to work more and more.  

To conclude, this week went with lots of accomplishments and achievements; we finished almost 50% of the whole work. This all happened because of our solidarity and incessant struggle. Furthermore, the local community is also energising us by contributing their part, either by donating useful things or by helping us as volunteers.    

We are looking for new local volunteers for the second edition of Youth Centres UP.

Youth Centres UP 2 is a long-term project organised by Timis County Youth Foundation (FITT) through the European Solidarity Corps (ESC), in which 10 international volunteers from different countries and local volunteers are involved in setting up 10 new youth centres in the neighbourhoods of Timisoara. Through this project, we promote the participation of young people, as well as social inclusion, human rights, and solidarity. 

The project is a follow-up to its first edition organised by FITT in 2019, which had a real success, resulting in 5 new Youth Centres in the municipality of Timisoara: Calea Aradului, Calea Martirilor, Calea Șagului, Lipovei, Dâmbovița. It was one of the biggest projects organised ever in the county and in Romania: more than 90 international and local volunteers were involved in the renovation of the spaces for the Youth Centres. 

This is an incredible opportunity for the community and the youth of Timisoara and Timis county, an initiative that seeks to make them participate in the development of their neighbourhoods.  

For this year’s edition, they are the volunteers that are already here, ready to break the ground and build the best Youth Centres in your neighbourhood: Burak, Alperen and Fatih from Turkey, Esther and Miriam from Spain, Armando from Albania, Charlie from France and Ion from Moldova. You can meet them all on the 16^th of June, in our  Youth Centre in Sagului.   

As we will start the renovation and preparations to open the new youth centres, we will need more help, especially from the people that live in the area of the youth centres and understand the needs of the local youth, their mates and colleagues. If you are interested in being a part of our amazing team and help us organise the best activities for the local youth and spread the word of the new safe spaces, you can always apply on our website and be a local volunteer. 

And if you are not sure whether this is what you want, come to the Youth House (Str. Arieș 19) to find out more about us.